Nikolai
Fuck me, I’m not going to be able to resist her much longer. It’s why I sent her to fucking bed, why I didn’t look back. Her brat behavior and deliberate provocations and demands should have angered me.
Instead, I liked them.
She’s got fire and the will to win. Some might say I’ve got her where I want her, but from where I sit in my underwear, hair still damp from the shower, glass of scotch and my computer on my lap, it’s an almost but not quite one hundred percent.
I watched her after she left, watched her through the camera as she kicked off the shoes and crawled into bed, a ball of misery. I watched when she flung back the covers, dumped the collar that cost a fortune on the floor like it was a plastic thing from a dime store, and stripped down for the bathroom. I watched when she trailed back through, hair wet and in my damned shirt. She picked up the necklace and placed it on the chair I had brought in while we were out, on top of the books I sent up.
She’s still there, on the screen, in the top corner, sleeping.
I want her in my bed, where I can look at her, touch her when I want. Unfortunately, touching is a problem because I don’t want to stop. I don’t ever want to fucking stop.
When I teased her, I almost lost it. I almost took that vestige of her virginity, that final act to make and mark her as mine.
Yeah, I’m really not going to be able to resist her much longer.
While I destroyed the burner, I’m not shocked that Finnegan hasn’t answered his regular phone. When we pulled up, Tony handed me another that came while we were out. There was one number on it, a note on top stating that he’ll call tomorrow. Fuck that.
I’m guessing Finnegan’s in his safe place, hidden and hidden well. He’d never admit it, but he’s scared of what I can do. He should be. I might not do some of the fucked up, low down, cowardly things he does to women, children, whoever, but I’m worse than him.
Finnegan is a master at underestimation. His cockiness is going to be his undoing. The man doesn’t care about his daughter, not as a person. But as his offspring, an heir, his property? Absolutely. He doesn’t share.
I don’t either, but in a different way.
I turn the phone over in my hand, thinking of my next move. I’m going to need to walk a fine line here, push all his buttons, but only the right ones all the way down. With a sigh, I hit the number.
It rings, and for a second, I don’t think he’s going to answer, like this is some kind of asinine power play. But he does. Finally.
There’s only silence, apart from his breathing.
“Finnegan.”
He doesn’t answer, not for a while, but when he does, it borders on his version of polite. “What do you want, Wilder?”
At least the anger is no longer level ten and rising. It’s simmering, under control. I have what he wants and he knows it now. I’m sure it’s there, but I know, after tonight, he’d have gotten all sorts of interesting reports. He needs to try and put up a semblance of control. This is going to be interesting.
I let him simmer away, just a little longer, stretching it out until I snap the band. “For your daughter?” My words are light, bored and noncommittal.
“You may have her, Wilder, but she’s mine.” It’s almost a growl.
I rub my finger against the small window on my computer, over her sleeping form. Right now, she’s still, but soon she’ll start tossing and turning, when the memories she pretends are dreams start to haunt her. I hate him a little more for that.
“She isn’t yours, Finnegan, and you know it.” Rose, if she were here, would look demure, trying to behave, holding back words. Her fingers would bunch like they did when she first arrived, and her eyes would flash fire. Yeah, Rose would fucking hate two men discussing her like she was nothing more than a piece of art.
I inwardly sigh. Regardless of my ache for her, if I want her in a way that borders on obsession, she’s here for a reason. A game, one I’ve spent a long while planning, and she’s a lucky piece I never thought I’d have. I’m not throwing a damn thing away. Fuck that.
I touch the screen again as she turns.
Finnegan’s growl comes through the line. “What do you really want,
Nikolai?”
I want his head on a platter. That’s what I want. “Oh, it’s very simple, Derek.”
“Good-”
“All I want is your entire territory and every single cent in your bank accounts.”
Derek chokes on the other end, taking in my truly benevolent offer. “You’re fucking insane. There’s no way you’ll get that from me. Over my dead body.”
“Well…that’s appealing, too. It can be arranged.” My voice twists from light to deadly.
He doesn’t say a word, but the cool, soft slide of metal tells me he’s checking his gun.
Good. Maybe he’ll start that war. He’ll think he can negotiate me down, and maybe I’ll agree. Maybe he’ll just finally pay up. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to kill him however it plays out. I take a deep swallow of my Scotch.
“Tell you what,” I say. “I’ll call you on this-since you won’t answer your real phone-in a couple of days to set up the meeting.”
He doesn’t say a fucking word, so I do. “You want her, and you have my price. Your territory, plus the money. I think you’ll pay.”
I know from the silence that I’ve got him. “I’m not paying that, but I can…negotiate.”
“Stay by your phone.” Hanging up, I stare at the plastic piece of shit and throw it, not hard enough to break it, but enough to dent the wall.
I need that fuck here, in my territory. I have no intention of turning my little Rose over to this fucking evil monster, but I think I’ll kill him the moment he shows his cowardly face. I want the money, the territory. Most of all, I want the fucker dead.
I finish my Scotch and run a hand over my face when my phone rings. I press answer on speaker and Rush’s voice fills the room.
“Nikolai, dude.” His voice is tight, a sign of nerves. “I take it you got the new burner from Tony? I left it with him after checking it.”
I don’t answer, just lead with a question that I already know the answer to. “Where are you?”
“Where you sent me,” he replies. “Finnegan’s compound.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “He hasn’t spotted you?”
“Nope, not that I’m aware of.” Not really what I like to hear, but he’s alive and he’s got good men with him, so he’ll be okay. Besides, hurting my cousin seals Finnegan’s daughter’s fate. Do anything to Rush and she’s dead. Finnegan’s a coward, but he’s not that stupid.
Rush continues. “There’s movement. I mean, real movement.”
“He’s there?”
“Yeah, I saw him, but I think he might be making a move to his safe compound.” Rush draws in a breath. “Nikolai, there are some big guns.
And…shit.”
“What?”
I hear the wince in his voice. “Your maid?”
“I don’t have a fucking maid. Mia hired Sylvie to…” I trail off, the realization sinking in, and to my own surprise annoyance flares. “They have
Sylvie?”
“I think that’s her. Kind of demure, crushes on you big time?” “She’s expendable.” Fuck, it’s a twist, a last-minute surprise move.
Rush is quiet for a long time. “We don’t do that. We protect ours. We still do that, Niko, don’t we?”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Yeah, okay. I’ll work that into my plan. I don’t care how I get there, as long as the end results are the same.” I make a note to call Mia and Tony. She must have been taken on her way home. She’s not going to die, not if I can help it. Rush is right-we protect ours. What’s Finnegan thinking? A maid as a bargaining chip? If so, he seriously misstepped.
It does tell me he’s not coming guns blazing, the fucking coward.
“Niko?”
“We’ll get her. I have his precious daughter, so I have the power. This is a weak little move, nothing more. What kind of guns?”
He goes through it all, the men, the guns, what people are doing. They’re making sure Finnegan gets Rose and gets back alive, which I bet is why he took Sylvie. Too bad the death warrant’s already been signed. I may just have to adjust the time, that’s all.
“They’re not storming castles,” I say as I pour myself a glass of scotch. “No, this is perfect. He’s scared and nervous.”
“Nikolai, what if he loses it?” my cousin asks, quieter this time. Interesting.
“Oh, I’m counting on it. Rush, keep doing your job. Don’t go in, don’t get seen.”
I hang up and down my drink. It’s time to finally finish my plan.